Blue ain't your colour (It is mine)

6

The next morning, Chance cornered him before he had a chance to get to the mess hall for breakfast. "Listen up, Rupp, you got tonight free," his boss stated in a tone that brooked no argument. Adam looked at him dumbfounded. "Can you repeat that, I think my ears are still sleeping," he said flatly. "'Cause I heard that you want to give me two free nights in a row in Christmas season." 

"That's about right," Chance agreed amiably.
"....Why?"
"Well, Tim told Rob about yesterday, I happened to listen, and we all agreed that extraordinary times require extraordinary measures."
"The heck are you talking about, Chance?"
"Basically, Rob said he will take your shift because he wants to see you 'be adorable with Austin' and I couldn't dissuade him."
Adam was at a loss for words.
"Not that I tried very hard," his boss added as an afterthought.
"...'Be adorable'?" the waiter inquired, making quotation marks with his fingers.
"Yep."
Adam shook his head fondly. "You – all of you, the entire team – are dumb idiots." He grinned. "Thank you." And then skipped off to the kitchen.
("Three," Chance noted drily, under his breath. Three times that his most reserved, controlled and smoothest employee had skipped down the corridor, all because of a certain blond-haired boy.)

Throughout the day, Austin and Adam worked smoothly alongside each other like they had from the start. They didn't exchange many words. But to Tim, Rob and Chance, who knew Adam better than the man was aware, it was easily visible how happy he was despite his usual silent and controlled manner. And all of them were extremely pleased to have arranged another "date" for their friend. (At least that was what Tim called it...)
As the evening approached, Adam invited Austin for another round of drinks. Rob set the mood for the evening with slow and quiet songs, accompanied by Tim on the piano. Adam resolutely ignored any and all suggestions his colleagues might be making with that choice of music and settled down comfortably at their usual table. No alcohol for him today – he figured that it was time to get to know Austin a bit better, get past his insecurities and bring out more of that bright, unconcerned laughter. So they could be seen putting their heads together, talking softly in their little corner; about work, about the ship and their favourite spots (Adam was touched to learn that Austin's was on a little balcony near the bow of the ship, right above the surface of the water, where the wind was always present and carrying little drops of salty water), the people here, crew and guests, and many other things. Finally, Adam carefully broached a subject that had been on his mind since he'd met Austin for the first time.
"So, what has brought you here? I mean, why take a job on a ship, of all places?"
Austin shrugged and the sadness returned to his eyes, his expression turning reserved once more. "Nothing special, I just... I needed to get away for a bit."
Adam's face softened. "It can be like that sometimes. I've been here for years. Got hired after my parents died. Landlord threw my brother and me out of the flat, we needed money." Austin jumped at the opportunity to distract from himself. "So, what's your brother do now?" "Works at the port. He hates ships. Gets sea sick." "Oh."
It was Adam's turn to shrug. "Sometimes that's just how it is. I miss him. But we will meet in a month, when we return to the home port. We'll probably get two or three weeks off, if we're lucky."
"You're lucky anyway. You got somebody," Austin mumbled. Adam paused for a moment. Then he agreed softly. "I am."
Thoughtfully, he straightened his back and looked around. Rob was taking a break and unabashedly staring at them with a silent "awwwww" written all over his face. Tim was goofing around at the piano. And in the reflection on the dark windows he occasionally glimpsed Chance, pacing in the corridor, talking to people, carrying files and doing his thing. And then there was Austin sitting next to him. Timid, insecure, vulnerable Austin, who seemed to carry burdens of his own, but still chose to let Adam attempt to befriend him.
"I'm very lucky indeed." He shook his head and sighed. "If there's anything I can help you out with, just let me know."
Austin acknowledged the offer with a tiny nod. "Thanks. I'd rather just not think about things though."
But even as they returned to lighter subjects once more, Adam couldn't help but wonder what had hurt his boy deeply enough to bury the happy and unconcerned spirit that had been shining in Austin's eyes the other night whenever he thought about it.
Wait. His boy? Where had that come from?
He had a lot to think about, that night, in the silence of his quarters. Sleep only found him in the early hours of morning.

The ringing alarm seemed inhumanely early even by Adam's standards next morning. It took him longer than usual to get ready and tell the right shoe from the left one. The number on the window pane read "22". Snowflakes were dancing in the wind outside. Christmas was approaching fast. When he finally entered the mess hall, he only found Chance there. Frowning, he checked the clock on the wall. Ten to six already.
"Where's everybody?" he mumbled, reaching blindly for a cup. Chance sighed. "Rob almost collapsed after the show last night."
"Oh shit."
Chance nodded. "Lack of sleep. He just doesn't know when to stop. I told him to stay the hell in bed today. I would like to still have a Rob Lundquist working for me after the holiday season."
Adam froze his coffee solid and heavily fell into his seat. He felt slightly bad that he hadn't noticed anything but Austin yesterday evening. "Don't do that," Chance admonished. "Somebody could come in."
Adam shrugged. "Does the management up there ever wonder how we run this business with roughly four whole people?"
"I guess not. They are happy as long as I stay within their ridiculous budget."
"Figures." He gloomily let the coffee melt enough to be drinkable. Ah, sweet, bitter coldness clearing up his head. "I can take the morning on my own if you need me to."
"Thanks, Adam. You're the absolute best."
"I know." And finally, he managed his first real grin on this tired morning as Chance flipped him off and left the room.

Yes, usually Adam was at home on the stage, in the midst of the performance, surrounded by warmth and golden light. But that night was exhausting even for him. Tim was distracted, getting caught up in the stress of the day, and needed a gentle reminder every now and then to not lose his head in the face all the things waiting to get done. Maybe he was biased, but the guests seemed prone to complain throughout the entire day, demanding this and that, never being satisfied. Adam had taken over all of Rob's shifts and completely foregone breaks save for a hasty lunch. By the time evening and the show rolled around, he was going through the moves on autopilot, but his heart wasn't in it. The whole day had felt off, somehow.
He was glad to see Austin and Chance sharing the corner table, despite everything. At least one of his friends had managed to not get caught up in the weird mood of the day. Austin still wasn't really talking much to any of the others outside of work, but at least he was there, having a drink, being social, more or less. Performing for him made things more enjoyable, too.
That was, until about halfway through the show, when the boy suddenly got up with a blank expression and hurried out of the room. Adam reinforced his professional mask and kept singing without missing a beat, but on the inside he felt uneasy. He had never seen Austin look like that, not even when he was a ball of insecurity and anxiety during his first day on the team. He wondered what had prompted the reaction. It was impossible to focus on that and performing at the same time, though, so he did his best to stay focused until he could call it a night. He noticed Chance getting up and leaving shortly after Austin.
When he finally got off the stage, his body demanded a bed, but his brain demanded to go search for his friend. Chance took the decision out of his hands. He entered the dressing room as soon as Adam had sat down to get out of his shoes. "Let's skip your questions," he offered, "and go right ahead to my answers. I have no idea why Austin left, we didn't talk before – it was out of the blue. I didn't find him for a good while, but now he seems to be in his room. At least the light was on. I didn't bother him, though. Go sleep, Adam. You look like you need it."
Adam just stared at him while his tired brain processed Chance's words. His boss put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You can take care of everything else in the morning."